Poll shows that majority of Americans think that Barack Obama is just as bad a president as George Bush

Is President Obama actually making George Bush look like a great leader?

More than half of those surveyed in a new poll – 56% – say that President Obama has been worse in the White House, or just about the same, as George W. Bush.

A result, from a USA Today/Gallup poll out Friday, could not have gone over well with Obama’s political strategists.

“The fact that less than half of Americans say Obama has been a better president than Bush, given the low regard Americans have for the Bush presidency, poses a clear challenge for Obama,” Gallup’s website declared in a breakdown of the poll, which surveyed 1,004 Americans, living in all 50 states, from Sept. 15-18.

Those surveyed were asked to rate Obama’s presidency against Bush’s, and also against Bill Clinton’s, by choosing one of three answers: better, worse or about the same.

The problem for Obama is that too many – 22% of those surveyed – gave the same-as-Bush answer. Bush left office dogged by widespread discontent and bleak economic developments, creating a national angst that Obama rode to the White through his promise of change.

So for Obama, as an incumbent, and especially one who vowed he would improve the country’s lot, the same-as-Bush answer is really a negative response.

And as the Gallup analysis points out, Obama needs to convince voters that the country is better off now than it was the day Bush permanently traded the Oval Office for his Texas ranch.

“The outcome of presidential elections, particularly for incumbent presidents, largely turns on performance evaluations,” the analysis reads. “If Americans are generally happy with the state of the nation, they are generally likely to re-elect the incumbent. If they are dissatisfied, the incumbent is at risk of defeat.”

The results of the poll definitely are encouraging that people want to see President Obama in the White House for another 4 years.

Only 12% said they believe Obama is doing a better job than Bill Clinton. Among Democrats, only 20% said Obama tops Clinton, but 51% said they were about the same.

Obama, predictably, took a pounding among Republicans, with just 9% saying he has been a better chief executive than Bush. Among Independents, that percentage was somewhat better but by no means encouraging: 33%.

Do you plan on voting for President Obama in the 2012 election? If not, would you still say he was a better POTUS than Bush??

Source